Fatah-Hamas Unity Will Strengthen Resistance Movement: Lawmaker

TEHRAN, May 2 (ICANA) – MP Kazem Jalali has said that the reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah will strengthen the Palestinian resistance movement.

Monday, May 02, 2011 9:24:27 PM

The agreement will strengthen the resistance movement and will help hasten the day that the rights of the Palestinians are restored, Jalali noted.

“It (the deal) raised hopes among the Palestinians,” Jalai, rapporteur of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told the Mehr News Agency.

Fatah-Hamas deal will weaken the Zionist regime, he added.

Jalali also expressed hope that Fatah and Hamas would abide by their agreement and that other Palestinian factions would sign a reconciliation deal and stand by the Palestinian people in their fight against the Zionist regime.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian factions issued a statement, saying they had reached an "understanding" in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to set up a transitional unity government and hold elections.

The Egypt-mediated agreement between Fatah and Hamas calls for presidential and legislative elections to be held within a year.

The two Palestinian factions have been at odds since Hamas won a sweeping victory in the 2006 elections.

Hamas has vowed that the reconciliation deal will stay in place despite all the pressure from the US and Israel, which have been campaigning to prevent the recognition of a Palestinian state that includes the resistance movement.